egypt
Avenue of Sphinxes and the entrance to Luxor Temple Left : A man smoking a shisha ; the tomb of Seti I in the Valley of the Kings
Luxor images : awl images ; alamy
An open-air museum of the pharaonic era , Luxor ( ancient Thebes ) rose to become Upper Egypt ’ s religious capital during the New Kingdom ( 1550-1070 BCE ). Modern Luxor sweeps along the Nile ’ s east bank , soundtracked by the riverfront corniche ’ s trotting horse-drawn carriages , and home to the two famed pharaonic temples which were the cultcentre of the god Amun-Ra . On the west bank , the green patchwork of fields and squat villages is speckled with mighty memorial temples and flanked by the craggy Theban escarpment , where New Kingdom pharaohs secreted their rock-cut tombs .
The richly painted burial chambers in the barren Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens read like a who ’ s who of New Kingdom Egypt . There are at least 175 tombs here , though only a select few are open to the public . The jewel of the Valley of the Kings is the tomb of Seti I , the longest and deepest in the necropolis . An exclusive tour of this royal tomb , with its midnightblue astronomical ceiling , vivaciously coloured scenes on raised reliefs and rare stencilling examples is an adventure into the masterwork artistry of Ancient Egypt . Afterwards , explore the Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut . Hewn into the foot of Deir al-Bahri ’ s limestone cliff , this is the most dramatically situated of the west bank ’ s temples . No west bank itinerary is complete without a visit to the Colossi of Memnon . These two 1,000-ton statues of Amenhotep III have been a tourist attraction since the days of Ancient Rome .
On return to Luxor , it ’ s time to explore the east bank . Heady with the scent of spice and incense , Luxor market throngs with crowds after dark and is the place to hunt down handicrafts . The Karnak Temple Complex spans 247 acres , making it one of the largest religious sanctuaries ever built . At its core is the Temple of Amun- Ra , where Thebes ’ s main god resided . Strolling within the temple ’ s 59,000-square-foot Great Hypostyle Hall , surrounded by a stone forest of 134 towering papyrus columns , is a highlight of Luxor . Karnak is connected to Luxor Temple , in the centre of the modern town , by the 1.5-mile Avenue of Sphinxes . This was the processional route of Ancient Egypt ’ s annual Festival of Opet . Luxor Temple itself is mainly the work of Amenhotep III , though Ramses II added plenty of flourishes including the finely chiselled reliefs depicting the 1274 BCE Battle of Kadesh covering the first pylon ( gateway ).
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